Perfect Day in Paris

We spent our last full day in Paris just going slow and taking it all in. We took the Metro to Ile de la Cite' with the plan of getting a good look at Notre Dame which was on my very short must see list. In fact, my must see list was ONLY Notre Dame and Versailles, everything else was a planned wander around and go with the flow experience.

Notre Dame did not disappoint. It was breathtakingly beautiful. It was also chock full of people willing to wait in line over an hour to get inside. With fanny packs and cell phone cameras flashing.  I was not one of those people and was content to marvel at what the stone masons were able to create on the outside of the building.

When you stop and consider when Notre Dame was built and what tools were at the masons disposal, well it's just too much to fathom. Makes me feel badly for whining about the effort Ceol Mor is requiring. I would have been a crap cathedral builder. Mark on the other hand would have been fabulous so long as they were content for him to work on just one item for his entire life. But I digress...

The most beautiful view of the cathedral is actually the back of it. It also benefits from a lovely little garden at the foot of the cathedral.

Just to the side of the garden is a small play area. Kitty of course, quickly made friends with the locals and had a fun time spinning to the point of dizziness. As we left, she waved and said "Au revoir friends". It sounded more like "ova friends" but I think they did not mind her twangy pronunciation and they waved us on our way.

We headed to Luxembourg Gardens, stopping at a crepe stand on the way. Crepes are the way fast food should be done. I might never master French cooking but you had better believe I am going to work on my crepe technique. (one of the challenges of cruising is baking bread on board. Forget the bread, we are are going to be a crepe boat!)

The Luxembourg Gardens are an absolute MUST SEE if you are doing Paris with kids. Whiling away the hours in what is probably the loveliest park in Paris, listening to kids playing happily is absolutely the best way to spend your time in Paris. There is nothing in the Louvre that can compare with sunshine, laughter and time to just kick back and enjoy.


We spent 3 Euros to let Kitty sail a little wooden boat in the fountains. This might be a cliche' thing to do in Paris but there was no way we were skipping it. Little wooden boats to push about and watch as they catch the wind and take off? Count us in. We might have a future racer on our hands. Kitty was pretty competitive and was not pleased when other boats drifted into the path of her boat. Never mind Kit, rubbing is racing...

 

When I say we were kicking back and taking it easy, I really mean Mark was kicking back and taking it easy. He was hanging like a local. Namely, lying in the sun just being still. Kitty had at this point in time become obsessed with "dead people under stones" (thanks to walks past churchyards and cemeteries) and was being kind enough to give Mark a proper burial as he chilled.

There is a great play park at the back of Luxembourg Gardens. For a small entry fee, its climbing and spinning and zip lining to your hearts content.

Kitty and I LOVE carousels and when I found out that Luxembourg Gardens is home to the oldest surviving carousel in Paris, well you can bet we made a bee line. It was a wonderfully old school carousel. The kids were even armed with tiny wooden swords to practice jousting for golden rings held by the operator in a little wooden box. Kitty did not manage to score any rings but she had a grand time all the same. Any time someone is willing to arm her she gets pretty excited. Most of the rings were scored by a little local boy of about 6 who obviously is well practiced. I suppose that is what they mean when the say "putting in a ringer".

This was the end of our time in Paris. I have to say, Paris is a fantastic city for little kids. There are so many parks and gardens to play in. The locals are very welcoming to little people and even a 4 year old can appreciate the sheer beauty of the city. I think we were wise to skip the museums and to just let her enjoy Paris for itself. If you ask her what she thinks, she will pipe up with an enthusiastic " I LOVE Paris" and she does.

Versailles

We took the train out to see Versailles. I was feeling the way that I always do, which is maybe just wandering around a place is short changing our experience of a place. Kitty just wanted to see a palace with a Queen. So with this in mind, we jumped on a train and headed to Versailles to see what all the fuss was about.

Kitty managed to make a friend in front of the palace as we waited for Mark to acquire tickets. She has this incredible ability to put herself right out there with other kids, even when there is a language barrier.

I found it humorous that they had to open up the gates of Versailles to let the plumbers in. I suppose even the Palace of the Sun King was not immune to plumbing woes.

Here is a hint- do NOT try to buy your tickets in the ticket office in the palace complex. It will look as if it is a manageable queue but in reality, it snakes around and around and around. Just buy them from the little kiosk at the cross street before you get to the Palace. Same pricing, just no lines.

Touring the palace itself, I felt very sorry for anyone having to live there. Talk about heavy and oppressive. Overly ornate, dark marble everywhere (which would only be lit by candles!) and stuffy. The hall of mirrors was beautiful and I am glad I got to see it but when its over run with tourist groups who just stand there it loses some of the appeal. Why did I not take more photos of the most famous room in Europe? So that name- Hall of mirrors? Yeah, those mirrors catch the reflection of all those tourists. Never mind, What I really wanted to see were the gardens. The famous fountains and gardens of Versailles!!




We walked outside in anticipation of enjoying a spectacular view of the fountains and the grand canal beyond.

Are you freaking kidding me? Instead of seeing the amazing fountain display what we saw instead was a major reconstruction project. I could have stayed on my boat if I had wanted to see a major reconstruction project. There was no mention anywhere to let someone know before hand that hey, it might not be as impressive as you would have expected. Not a single one of the famed dancing waters of Versailles was operational. Not even ONE. Ugh. Never mind. The garden grounds themselves were beautiful if overly geometrically perfect. I think the prefect order and symmetry appealed to Mark. I thought it got a little boring- perfect wall of clipped hedges after perfect wall of clipped hedges.







The Grand Canal itself was lovely and next time I would just skip the palace and spend a day on the canal pottering around in the little rowboats, eating ice cream in the gardens and admiring the swans.

I appreciate the care and attention the gardening staff takes in keeping the gardens pristine. I also appreciate that even while working, the gardeners take care to indulge in the National past time of France- smoking. Health concerns aside, you have to admire the devotion of the French.

The gardens and house at Grand Trianon were much more appealing to me. A little less structured, a lot more light and movement. I can see why Marie Antoinette spent so much time here away from the overbearing ornateness of the Palace.

So am I glad we went? Well, yes. I just wish someone had given me a heads up on the construction and I wish I had known that the real pleasure to be had at Versailles is down in the gardens. If you HAVE to see the Palace then it might be worth the hassle but really, with kids it would have been best to just skip the Palace and spend the day in the gardens.

As for Kitty, she was REALLY annoyed that there was not a Queen anywhere to be seen. I still think she has not forgiven us for this. She spent the next few days letting us know about how Versailles had let her down. NO QUEENS ANYWHERE. She did however, put in an enthusiastic endorsement for eating ice cream in the gardens so I suppose she will eventually forgive us.

Wandering Paris

Our first day in Paris, we arrived via train in the early afternoon.  Before we even got to the hotel Kitty spied a park and we stopped by for a bit to let her run and play a bit. The weather was spectacular but I could not help but notice that Paris smells like pee. Cat pee to be precise. The whole city too, not just one area. I suppose it's to balance out all the ridiculous beauty of the city.

We eventually made it to our hotel in Montmarte. Here's a tip. Hotels are about 1/2 the price in Montmartre as other areas. The same holds true for cafe's. Yes, there are some really seedy businesses you might have to walk past but big dang deal. You don't have to actually go in, just keep on walking. We stayed right around the corner from the Moulin Rouge which is kind of a seedy business too, just with better PR.

View from our hotel window. Quiet neighbors.

Mark has been to Paris so many times that he really knows the city. It was fun to see him so excited to show Kitty and I his favorite parts. So on our first day, we spent the afternoon walking down the Champs Elysees and hanging out in the Tuileries gardens.

I walked around the city with my mouth hanging open, I think I was just flabbergasted at the care and effort put into making every bit of the city, beautiful. From beautifully laid out gardens, to boulevards with room for trees AND vehicles. Intricately detailed lamp posts and grotesques embellishing bridges. It was a bit overwhelming. Usually if I find something beautiful, its a forest or a mountain or a river valley. This might be the first time I have ever seen an entire city devoted to beauty. Even in the small streets, modest little shopkeepers seem to put an effort into the aesthetic of their space that is unlike any other place I have been. It's actually kind of refreshing to see that yes, humans can live in a densely populated area and it does not have to look a hot mess. It was just beautiful, the scent of cat pee not withstanding.

Not where we ate dinner, where we SHOULD have had dinner!

After dinner in the 6th arrondissment (big mistake, really overpriced for what you get. lesson learned) we went for a walk along the Seine. The canal boats who call Paris home were moored along the quay. As we walked by, I thought about how great it would be to bring the boat up to Paris for a bit. Then I thought about all that would entail from paperwork and expenses to unstepping the mast and trying to store it on deck and I relegated the idea to the "maybe someday, not a priority" file. Still, I can certainly see the appeal of buying a canal boat and traveling the canals of France and Europe for a bit. Then I realize that would mean unleashing Captain Perfecto to refit yet another boat and truthfully, I only have ONE refit in me so for now I shall just be happy with the few days we got to spend in Paris away from sanding teak and painting fiberglass.